Some organizational issues but still had a great time…read more 1. No point in doing timed entry if the timed entry rules are the thing making everyone clump up and enter at once. Totally illogical. 2. No kids should be allowed at an adults event. They run the show every other day, give us a break from them. 3. Jazz band should have been outside. Sad that we barely heard any music the entire night. As usual the animals were amazing! Jubilee drink was yummy. Sunset was gorgeous.

The music and ambiance were both fantastic…read more Bumping down a star because there wasn't enough seating outside particularly as people were hogging seats in keeping their stuff on it. They would disappear for long periods of time but keep stuff unattended. There should be some paid seating that can be reserved. Or some active management of chairs so no one hogs tables. One of the most picturesque aquarium locations I've visited. Also, nice exhibits. The food was actually priced reasonably and good as well. It was a nice family friendly atmosphere to experience a jazz event. Particularly as most Chicago jazz venues appear to be 21+.

A perfect quiet, cozy corner of the city to hide away in with a good book on a cold night. I…read morerelaxed next to the fire with the full-bodied, Oxford Landing Cabernet and thoroughly enjoyed myself (and every sip). The staff was kind and attentive, I will happily be returning. Reservations are not required. I was able to walk-in and have a few seats to choose from, but it doesn't hurt to make one if you're eating. There is a cozy game room across the hall for billiards and grabbing a casual drink with friends as well

I arrived around 21:00 for dessert/nightcap on a Monday evening before heading back to my hotel…read morenear convention center. I had been enjoying the city after a day of shopping and dinner at Joe's. A friend recommended this lovely bar/lounge. We are not from these parts of the U.S. and love to explore. This lounge is on the second floor of the Chicago Athletic Association building. Part of the Hyatt chain. I was warmly greeted by host and placed next to an old fireplace in front of the bar area. I was seated facing the entire lobby. I was enjoying the Gothic architecture. It was dark and a soothing atmosphere. I appreciated the appropriate music playing as well. It was a perfect way to end my day. I had a glass of champagne and my server recommended the Basque cheesecake. Which was perfect cause I recently visited San Sebastian, Spain. The Basque region makes a great cheesecake. The burned caramelized top complimented my champagne well. There is a room/bar in the back room of where I was. A great bar with games and TVs for sports. After enjoying my nightcap, I walked downstairs and was able to order a ride-share and wait in the warm entry of the building. This hotel is directly across the famous Bean which is in the beautiful Millennium Park. During the day, I highly recommend checking that park out.

Hidden gem in South Loop. something for everyone on the…read moremenu. feels like home. great service!

Victory Tap was a work related larger group dinner in one of the private rooms upstairs…read more They have separate full bar upstairs, which is nice. For food, it was a buffet style setup. - Ceasar salad - Sausage and peppers: good flavor on the sausage - Rigatoni - Chicken parm: I appreciate that they had a lot of extra sauce for this - Cheesecake The downstairs area was packed with people watching the World Cup. Upstairs, it was much quieter. It has an old school Italian institution feel (though I think it opened maybe about 10 years ago). It's not quite a destination but was a solid work dinner.

Fantastic service and great selection of snacks. I got the fried mushrooms and they were so good…read more It's super pretty and I love the color scheme of the place. Great place for cocktails either way a more upscale feel but not too fancy

Came in today with a group of eight friends over an hour after cocktail lounge opened (slower…read morehours). I'll begin by mentioning the drinks tasted great & the ambiance/overall esthetic and setup of this space is really wonderful. Unfortunately, my low review is because of the obvious distastefulness of some staff who are serving & bartending here. My guests visiting from out of state wanted a stiff drink in the afternoon & from the website photos + reviews, Vol 39 seemed like an awesome place that could accommodate our party with the large sofa seating. I even called ahead to ask about walk-ins of our size to be extra considerate. We received shocking dagger glares from a few staff members which made all eight of us immediately uncomfortable before even being sat. Like we were committing a major crime for thinking we could step foot in here. Empty stack of glasses slammed on the table with a water pitcher placed beside them; "I'll be right back." In a sharp tone. Ok. But not if we're paying $20 per person per cocktail. We were rushed and this attitude persisted, it is lazy.. especially given it was extremely slow.. super surprising for such an elevated establishment. Then, after a long while, we were all asked what we wanted to drink, like a fast casual burger joint. No, "any questions about our selections" or, "may I give some suggestions?" Never came by to check on us once despite the three other two tops inside. We wrapped it up fast since we definitely could choose another location with more attentiveness & basic kindness. We paid, a hefty gratuity in small print on the check which.. you guessed it.. was automatically included but no mention of this tidbit by the server. Maybe this is why we revived all this mean girl energy from the jump? Because they'll still get paid really well regardless? All eight of us have been a part of the service industry and this one stuck out extra frustrating & annoying. Never leave a low review, I'm writing today to management because they will ruin your repeat clientele, seriously. People can find another fabulous cocktail with way better service & vibes in the city. Overall, it was a shame my friends experienced this gross behavior today in the fabulous city of Chicago. Hope the staff does better in the future and works on improving their outlook.

Nice little spot here in the Chicago south loop…read more It's seat yourself but the service was friendly and quick. They have a happy hour but we didn't partake. We shared two orders of spam musubi (each order comes with two), a plate of Kalbi and I got the ube pina colada (which was AMAZING)

Great selection of Asian dishes to sample at this wonderful business! Sesame chicken, kung pao,…read moreand crab Rangoon were very good and at a great price point. Pro Tip: Tiki bar serving up great drinks as well

This is a great little bar…read more The drinks somehow all had glitter--which I love--but didn't seem to match the vibe. My husband and I stopped in for a quick dinner and Half Sour fit the bill. Casual pub fare of good quality. Slow service, but it wasn't a huge issue. I'm sure we'll be giving it another shot.

Came here with friends for brunch after playing pickleball at Grant Park for a couple hours. I have…read moreheard great things about this place so I was excited to come here. They only had brunch items available when I came here on Sunday around 1:30pm which was totally fine since I was in the mood for some eggs and hash. I ordered the rosemary hash which was really just two eggs on top of crispy hash with some garlic aioli sauce drizzled on top. I could not taste the rosemary but you can see there's a piece of rosemary on top of the dish. Service was quick and easy as we were able to view the menu via QR code then someone took our order. The place is a decent size with a ton of seating inside and some patio seating. We ordered an ice cream sundae to share because we were so hot from pickleball. Overall, it's a decent place to chill with friends regardless of occasion.

I stopped into M Lounge for their Friday night happy hour after hearing about it from my friend's…read morecousin, who happened to be DJing a house set that evening. We arrived right at the start of happy hour, which made it easy to order drinks and grab a comfortable spot. There was even a caterer onsite selling food, it looked good, but we passed since we had just come from dinner. By 7 pm the crowd had grown, and the lounge was completely packed. The vibe was very local, with many people clearly familiar with one another, which gave it a laid-back, neighborhood feel. The drinks were strong, the music was on point, and the energy was just right for a Friday night wind-down. M Lounge is the kind of spot that would definitely be in my regular rotation if I lived in Chicago. Since I don't, I'll just have to make sure it's on my list every time I visit.

Use to be my favorite bar before finally closing the doors earlier this year! I suggest checking…read moreold photos for their ambiance & service. They didn't serve food. You could order food and eat at the bar!

I loved Oliver's!!! The front seating area is super bright, lit with tons of natural light & has a…read morebeautiful bar. There is also a huge back dining area as well. We loved everything we ate! I don't think you can go wrong. The salad was super flavorful and I loved the stracciatella toast. I recommended making a reservation but I don't think you need to do it that far in advance. We came before a concert at solider field and it was about a 25 walk to the venue so great place to come before going to solider field!

I came here for a birthday outing last weekend, and while the food was outstanding, the service was…read moreseverely disappointing, especially at this price point. My group was made to feel like an inconvenience - we felt rushed even though we didn't take long to order, or linger after paying, and we were polite while ordering plenty of dishes and drinks. A number of people in our party also work in the service industry, so we try to be mindful of all of these factors. We didn't receive one of the ordered sides, and this was obviously not the server's fault, but a number of items we attempted to order were unavailable (oysters, saturn cocktail, milk & cookies dessert) and it wasn't really acknowledged. Again, this was a birthday reservation and we were brought the check without being asked if we would like to order dessert. Then, when we did order dessert, there was no candle. I understand some restaurants don't provide candles...but a table next to us was given a candle. A disappointing experience - I had been looking forward to trying Oliver's since they opened.

Such a fun vibe and a great crowd! I went in on a Sunday evening and it was decently packed. The…read morebar itself is dimly lit and moody. There's plenty of booth seating, as well as tall chairs at the bar. Once it was karaoke hour, I put myself on the list and started singing. Everybody is fun about it, whether the performer is conventionally a great singer or not, and I absolutely love it! There was even a group of 4+ girls who sang together on stage, and the energy was so infectious, it got the whole bar yelling the lyrics along with them. Would highly recommend!

Brando's was a good time. Drinks were solid. There's two main areas split by the bathrooms -- one…read morefocused on karaoke and the other for conversation (with bartenders available in both areas). When we arrived karaoke seemed pretty paired down but an hour or two in, it was lively with a long queue for singing.

Had a casual dinner here over a weekend Drinks were on…read morepoint and boozy The bread was phenomenal The pastas are fresh in house and all of the food was great Overall would recommend to anyone - veggie friendly as well

Apolonia offered excellent food, but I will never go back…read more We ordered the tasting menu ($72) and added the wine pairing ($48) and with tax and tip the bill for two was just under $320. None of this was a great surprise. No cocktails, by the way. The tasting menu was photocopies with two menus per sheet of paper and a very sloppy cut for a non-rectangular menu. The problem was the service. I like a paced meal but 2 hr-55 min is absolutely ridiculous. The restaurant was not able to get food onto the table, either because of the quantity of quality of the staff, and the room certainly wasn't very crowded, perhaps 35 customers in sight. I think there were 4 cooks, 2 servers, 2-3 runners/busboys, and a hostess who hustled around doing a lot of odd jobs. Every item served was delicious. The plating was nice as well. The wines were not so successful. Of the four wines on the menu, two differed from the descriptions and the pairings ran from OK to Combative. I have lots of details about the food and wine, but that's not the issue. The poor service was inexcusable. I only get to Chicago one every 2-3 years and there are so many good restaurants that this one has been crossed of the list with a permanent Sharpie.